Matt Cartwright

Matthew Alton Cartwright (born May 1, 1961) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative from PA's 8th congressional district since 2013.

Cartwright was born on May 1, 1961, in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of Alton S. Cartwright and Adelaide (Igoe) Cartwright.

He attended Upper Canada College (Toronto), graduating in 1979, before earning a Bachelor of Arts in history, magna cum laude, from Hamilton College in 1983, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

In 1981, Cartwright attended the London School of Economics, where he met his future wife, Marion Munley.

After graduating from law school, Cartwright worked as an associate in the litigation department of the Philadelphia law firm Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, practicing commercial and securities litigation.

Cartwright studied law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor degree in 1986.

He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1986 and in 2005 was further admitted to the Bar of New York.

In 1988, both Munley and Cartwright joined the Munley family's law firm in the Scranton area.

For 24 years, Cartwright worked as an attorney and partner at Munley, Munley and Cartwright, a Scranton firm representing victims, consumers and small businesses in personal and business litigation.

During the 1992 presidential election, Cartwright was an elected delegate for Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention, representing Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district.

In 2001–2002, he served as District Governor for Rotary International District 7410, covering northeastern Pennsylvania.

Between 2005 and 2011, Cartwright was the on-air legal analyst for The Law & You.

In the segment, aired nightly as part of NBC affiliate WBRE-TV's evening newscast, he fielded viewer questions on legal matters.

In 2008, Cartwright was inducted into the International Society of Barristers.

Had the district existed in 2008, Barack Obama would have carried it with 56 percent of the vote.

An internal poll from Cartwright showed him up seven points against Holden, the incumbent.

The new district was significantly bluer than its predecessor and was located in territory where constituents were unfamiliar with Holden.

From 2009 to 2012, Cartwright served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice.

On November 5, 2010, the Boy Scouts of America's Northeastern Pennsylvania Council presented Cartwright with its Silver Beaver Award for volunteer service to that organization.

Pennsylvania Republicans, who controlled the redistricting process after the 2010 United States Census, significantly altered Holden's 17th district.

In 2011, Cartwright co-authored the legal treatise Litigating Commercial and Business Tort Cases published by Thomson Reuters.

In the process, it absorbed heavily Democratic Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, previously in the 11th district.

A member of the Democratic Party, Cartwright defeated 10-term incumbent Tim Holden, the dean of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, in the Democratic primary on April 24, 2012, 57%–43%.

He then defeated Republican nominee Laureen Cummings in the general election on November 6, 2012, 61%–39%.

As an attorney, Cartwright previously worked at the law firm of Munley, Munley, and Cartwright.

On April 24, 2012, Cartwright defeated Holden by 57%–43% in the primary.

In the November general election, Cartwright faced Republican nurse Laureen Cummings, a leader of the Scranton Tea Party.

On November 6, Cartwright defeated Cummings, 61%–39% to become the district's next congressman.

The district, numbered as the PA's 17th congressional district from 2013 through 2019, includes a large swath of northeastern Pennsylvania, anchored by Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and the Poconos.

The old 17th had been based in Harrisburg, but the new 17th had been pushed well to the north and east.

The remap significantly altered the 17th's demographics.

The old 17th had been anchored in traditionally Republican territory in central Pennsylvania; in much of the district, Holden was the only elected Democrat above the county level.

John McCain carried it with 51 percent of the vote.

In contrast, the new 17th was anchored in northeastern Pennsylvania, which had long been the most Democratic region of the state outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The only portion of the district that had been in the old 17th was Holden's home in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, with the majority of Democratic primary voters located in counties considered more favorable to Cartwright's candidacy.

During the primary, Cartwright described himself as being from "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party"—a line often employed by Howard Dean and Paul Wellstone.

He was supported by MoveOn.org, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Campaign for Primary Accountability.

Cartwright ran as a self-professed "FDR Democrat", and as an ally of President Obama on taxes and health care reform, and pledged to work with U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey Jr., also of Scranton, on regulations for safety in fracking.

Cartwright also benefited in the race from endorsements from popular local public figures like State Representative Phyllis Mundy and former Scranton mayor Jimmy Connors.

Holden's opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and his support of energy legislation that included the Halliburton loophole are believed to have contributed to his defeat.